London is once again the most popular city stand at IMEXFrankfurt, with a total of 700 pre-booked appointments ahead of the show next week (19-21 April). The stand will be run by London & Partners, the official promotional company and convention bureau for the city.

London & Partnerswill be exhibiting alongsidetwenty-threepartners, ranging fromaccommodation through totransportproviders, including Edwardian Group London, Historic Royal Palaces and Eurostar.

While at IMEXFrankfurt, London & Partners will be showcasing the city’s intellectual capital and its relevance to meetings plannersthrough its newinitiative“London: Capital of Cutting-Edge”.

This new campaign is the latest instalment in London & Partners’ Love the Event & Love the Experience campaign, which was developed in 2015 based on the insight that deciding where to hold an event is based on both rational and emotional factors.This latest iteration of the campaign will focus on London’s world leading sector expertise.

A newreport produced by London & Partners highlightshowthe city’s leading clusters such asfinance, technology, life sciences and the creative industries haveprovedkey in attracting major conferences and congresses in those areas.

Those fourclustersconverging in one city haveinspired cross-sector innovation and makeLondon a uniqueand attractivedestination in which to hold a businessevent,givingmeeting plannersaccess to the best talent and minds,and delegates the opportunityto network and do businessin the capital.

TracyHalliwellMBE, Director of Business Tourism and Major Events at London & Partners, said:“London is at the forefront of rapidly innovating and converging financial, tech, life sciences and creative industries, making it a cutting edge business event destination.Hosting an event in a city which is a global hub of excellence for that sector can provide a wealth of added value and return on investment. London provides unlimited access to research, innovation and ideas, meaning talent gravitates towards London.”

MattScheckner, Managing Director at Advertising Week Europe said: “London is a melting pot of creativity and is building an exciting future tied tothe creative industries. It’s at the crossroads of creativity and technology which is re-defining our future. For our purposes, it is the capital of Europe and major agencies andAdTechplayers have their EMEA headquarters in London.

“It is also an aspirational place that people want to visit. Our growth in the last three years from 14,000 in 2013 to an anticipated 35,000delegatesthis year, is very much tied to having selected London as our host city.”

In recent years, London has been very successful in attractingmedical congresses, such as that of theEuropean Association of Periodontology and therecord-breakingEuropeanSociety of Cardiology congressin 2015 and the upcomingEuropean League Against RheumatologyandEuropean Respiratory Societycongresses later this year.

This areais set to groweven further as the life sciences sector expands and the opening of ground-breaking facilities such as The Francis Crick Institute will also addto the city’s competitiveness.

Dr David Roblin, Chief Operating Officer and Director of Scientific Translation, The Francis Crick Institute, said:“London is home to a winning combination of academic excellence, great universities and cutting-edge research. It’s a fantastic place to do science, boasting both award-winning scientists and innovative business people to translate science for health and wealth benefits.”

London’s status as a global financial centre, combined with its emergence as the world’s biggest financial technology orFinTechhub, has helpedthe city to winSibos2019, whichwas announced last year andwill bring an estimated 9,000 financial services professionals from across the globe to the city.

SvenBossu, Head ofSibos, said:“Fintech innovation is being led from London, making it the most compelling host city forSibos2019. The expertise in the sector means we can create a great experience for our delegates.We look forward to bringingSibosto the financial heart of Europe for the first time – and to making it a great experience for our entire community.”

On the tech front,TechCrunch Disrupt arrived in London in 2014,following its launch in Berlin in 2013,drawnto the British capitalby the vibrant tech start-up community and the access to top talent.

Leslie Hitchcock, Director of Events at TechCrunch said:“There is great access to the start-up community in London which is very productive, there are great contacts in the city that attendees can speak to, allowing them to meet investors and get business done outside the event.”